head shaking

[Yvonne (and Maggie)]

hi there! Ive a 4 month old mini labdradoodle

 

she went to the groomers 1 week ago. they did a full groom, plucked her internal ear hairs and prior to this, Ive been cleaning the ears quite regularly every 3 days

 

of late, she has been shaking her head rather frequently. once every 30 min or so. I find that her ears also tend to get dirty (brown gunk) more often. I am now cleaning daily. it doesnt stink but I think its not very right that I need to clean daily

 

should this be the case? I am bringing her to the vet tomorrow

[Jennifer and Luci]

I think there are many differing opinions on removal of hair.  My groomer does not do so, just cleans the ears.  I also asked the vet and he said there was no reason to remove it if it was not causing a problem.  Of course, many do and swear by it but so far we've had no ear issues and her ears are clean.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Kona is 4. He has had only one ear infection in his life and it was after a groomer plucked his ears three years ago. I never pluck them now and he never has an ear infection. I think it can work both ways. Some people say plucking helps dogs not get ear infections. I'm just giving you my experience.

[BG and Gavin]

For regular maintenance you should not have to clean the ears more than once every two weeks or so.  You are definitely over cleaning which will cause dryness and stripping.  If that much brown gunk is produced daily I would definitely suspect an ear infection.  Check with your vet.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I thought that excessive brown gunk was also a sign of a potential food allergy (grains?). 

In any case - I don't pluck Luna's ear hair (she doesn't have a lot), I just clean with ear cleaning solution every few weeks and wipe the inside with a cotton ball.  I do trim around the outside of the ear canal under the flap though to help me see down there and to keep it from getting too moist.

[Lynda Kamrath]

The vet should be able to discover the problem.  My guess is something in her ear that is irritating her.  The brown gunk also points to this. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't pluck the ears either but I do clean the ears every 2-3 weeks. I don't think you should have to clean so often and I think your dog probably has an infection now.